Feb. 8, 2004
WARSAW, Ind. - The Cleveland State men's tennis team earned a split on the weekend, defeating IPFW, 5-1, on Sat., Feb. 7, after losing a 5-1 match to Eastern Illinois on Fri., Feb. 6. The split moves the Vikings' record to 2-7 on the year.
On Friday, the Vikings dropped five of the singles matches, four in straight sets. Of note for Cleveland State was the play of Brett Aronson at No. 4 singles and Jordan Reynolds at No. 6 singles. Aronson picked up the lone win for Cleveland State, winning over Colin Priestner, 7-5, 6-4. Reynolds took his opponent, Brandon Lenfert, to three sets before falling, 6-2, 7-5, (10-8). No doubles matches were played against the Panthers.
Saturday, Cleveland State snapped a six-match losking skid by defeating IPFW, 5-1. The win also gave CSU a measure of revenge against IPFW, who defeated the Vikings, 4-3, on Oct. 19 at the Malaga Tennis Center. Despite losing the doubles point on Saturday, the Vikings rallied for a five-match sweep of the singles points. Eric Winn, playing his second-straight match at No. 1 singles, picked up a 6-3, 7-5 win over Michael Parker, while Jay Tee, also in his second straight match at No. 2 singles, took a thrilling 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4) win over Carlos Gonzalez that seemed to energize the entire team.
Dan Singer joined in with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Ian Leonhardt, while Aronson picked up his second win of the weekend, defeating Jesse Nikho, 6-4, 7-6(3). Paul Haley wrapped up the match, defeating Daniel Jackson by a 6-4, 6-2 mark.
"Before the match on Saturday, we talked about fighting and not giving up, and acting professionally the entire time on the court, and it was unbelievable how we played even after losing the doubles point," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We'd lost to IPFW three straight times by a 4-3 score, and we had found a different way to lose each time. This time, we did what we needed. This is a start for us to get the wins we're supposed to get and some upsets along the way."
The Vikings will return to the courts with a home match against Chicago State on Sat., Feb. 21, at the River Oaks Racquet Club. That match starts at 6 p.m.
